Life has not always been easy like it is now.

We didn’t used to have computers and mobile phones and sometimes it would be days before we heard back from someone. We couldn’t open up the internet and search a question we had. Instead we had to go to the library and borrow a book to find the answer.

“I grew up in the great depression”

I grew up in Cyprus in 1931 at the beginning of the great depression. The great depression affected many countries and families. I started school and in year three I had to finish. My family was struggling and I wanted to help them, so leaving school seemed like a logical answer. I stayed in Cyprus to try and help my family until I was 18. But the jobs where scarce and we were struggling.

“I left Cyprus at 18 and travelled by boat to Australia”

So at 18 I left Cyprus and moved to Perth, Australia all alone. In those days leaving your family to travel across the world wasn’t done. My family looked down on me for leaving. However, they also thought I was incredibly brave to go to a country that I didn’t know the language and start my whole life there.

“I couldn’t speak a word of English when I moved to Australia”

I couldn’t speak, write or read any English, and even struggled to read and write in Greek. As I left school at such a young age, we hadn’t leant those things yet. When I got to Australia I was living in Richmond which was affluent with other Greeks and Cypriots. This was perfect as I felt safe and like I hadn’t left my life back in Cyprus.

During my life I have had many jobs. I have worked as a baker, a painter, a panel beater, a miner, a gardener. But unlike the children today who go to university to get their degrees I learnt all my professions on sight. I moved to Melbourne after a few years of living in Perth. I didn’t want to work in the mines anymore so I found a job and became a panel beater.

“At 22 I meet the love of my life”

When I was 22 and working as a panel beater my friend invited me to a 21st birthday party. When I walked in the door I saw a beautiful woman standing there with her friends. Little did I know that this would be my future wife. After that night we got married and not long after we had three children. When we had our children we moved back to Cyprus for 10 years so we could give them everything we never had. We have now been married for over 50 years. I am not going to say that is has always been easy, because it hasn’t. Life has been tough but we have managed to get through all the struggles. We have stood by each other for 50 years especially through the tough times.

“She made me remember the night we meet”

A few weeks ago I had an operation on my back and got really sick in the hospital. For three weeks while I was stuck in the hospital my wife came and saw me every day. It made me appreciate what an amazing women she is, and made me remember the night we met.

I love Australia for welcoming me into the country and giving me a life I never could have had in Cyprus.

I worked hard to get everything I have now and would not change anything about my life.